3.15 The Department aims to have the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. During the change process and headcount reduction the Department has to manage the risk of maintaining and retaining the skills Defence needs now and in the future. However, the Department suffers from skills gaps in both its civilian and military workforce, which it must manage as it reduces its headcount. The Department estimates that it will make at least one-third of its headcount reductions through natural wastage (including reduced recruitment in the military) over which it has less control than redundancies and so risks losing key skills through this process.